Erik ten Hag opted to leave Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench when Manchester United suffered defeat to their bitter rivals Manchester City.
Manchester United suffered a 6-3 loss to rivals Manchester City in what was a poor showing for Ten Hag’s side.
United were down four goals at half-time when the game was dead and buried, but a small second-half improvement saw United score three goals.
Ten Hag decided to leave Ronaldo on the bench for the entire match, and has given an interesting reason for his decision, as seen in the tweet below.
Ten Hag says he didn’t bring Ronaldo in with United 4-0 down “out of respect for his great career.” #MUFC
— Laurie Whitwell (@lauriewhitwell) October 2, 2022
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It’s certainly an interesting response from Ten Hag, as respect for a player’s career shouldn’t matter when it comes to winning a football match.
Ronaldo is certainly not the same player he once was, but leaving one of the best goalscorers to ever appear in the game on the bench when it comes to a game is a strange decision.
If it was for footballing reasons, and Ten Hag didn’t feel Ronaldo would affect the game, then that makes sense, but the answer the Dutch manager gave will surprise Manchester United fans.
